FTA Decision FTA Decision No. 15 of 2023 Federal Tax Authority

FTA Decision 15/2023 — Annual CPD hours for individual tax agents

Federal Tax Authority Decision No. 15 of 2023 on Professional Development Requirements for Natural Person Tax Agents

In force Issued 13 December 2023 In force from 1 January 2024

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Official Arabic title
قرار الهيئة الاتحادية للضرائب رقم (15) لسنة 2023 — متطلبات التطوير المهني المستمر على الوكلاء الضريبيين من الأشخاص الطبيعيين
Document type
FTA Decision
Number
15
Issued by
Federal Tax Authority
Issued
13 December 2023
In force from
1 January 2024
Applies to
Natural persons listed in the FTA's Register of Tax Agents for corporate tax, indirect taxes or both.
Current position
In force from 1 January 2024. Issued after Board approval at its 26th meeting on 26 April 2023.
Topics
Tax Procedures & the FTA · Tax agents
Official text
Official Arabic text · English translation (unofficial)

Factual summary

Requires each natural-person tax agent to complete at least 20 hours of Structured Continuous Professional Development in technical tax programmes per year if listed for corporate tax or for indirect taxes, or at least 30 hours (at least 15 for each) if listed for both. Shortfalls carry over to the next year. The FTA provides guidance, accredited courses and a recording form, and agents must keep evidence and produce it on request.

What it means in practice Professional insight

Who: individual tax agents and the firms that employ them. What to check: hours completed against the 20 or 30 hour requirement, the 15/15 split for dual listings, any carried-over shortfall, and the CPD record form and evidence.

Key provisions

  • Art. 1 Continuous Professional Development includes Structured CPD (learning with interaction or assessment whose completion the Authority can verify, measurable in hours or by attendance records or examination results) and Unstructured CPD (learning without interaction with others, such as reading and research).
  • Art. 2(1) A tax agent listed in the Register for either corporate tax or indirect taxes completes at least 20 hours of Structured CPD in technical tax programmes per annum.
  • Art. 2(2) A tax agent listed for both Corporate Tax and indirect taxes completes at least 30 hours per annum, of which at least (15) hours relate to corporate tax and at least (15) hours to indirect taxes.
  • Art. 2(3) Hours not completed in a year must be completed in the next year in addition to that year's required hours.
  • Art. 3 The Authority gives guidance on the types of programmes, a list of accredited courses and course providers, and a form for recording CPD hours; Tax Agents complete the form, keep evidence of the CPD undertaken and provide it to the Authority on request at any time.
  • Arts. 4, 5 All conflicting provisions are abrogated; published in the Official Gazette and in force as of 1 January 2024.

What changed

  1. 13 December 2023 Issued
  2. 1 January 2024 In force

Relationship chain

Law → decisions made under it → amendments → guidance and announcements; oldest first within each level.

  1. 30 September 2022 Federal Decree-Law FDL 28/2022 — Tax Procedures Law In force — amended
    1. 11 June 2017 Federal Law FL 7/2017 — former Tax Procedures Law — Replaced by this law from 1 March 2023 Superseded
      1. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 36/2017 — Former Tax Procedures Executive Regulation (repealed) — Executive Regulation of this law Repealed
      2. 1 May 2018 Cabinet Decision CD 23/2018 — Tax Disputes Resolution Committees — Made under it In force
      3. 28 December 2021 Cabinet Decision CD 105/2021 — Instalments, waiver and refund of administrative penalties — Made under it In force
      4. 2 September 2022 Cabinet Decision CD 85/2022 — Who is a UAE tax resident — Made under it In force (see Corporate Tax)
    2. 24 September 2017 Cabinet Decision CD 40/2017 — Administrative penalties: VAT, Excise Tax and Tax Procedures (schedule in force from 14 April 2026) — Made under it In force — amended
      1. 28 April 2021 Cabinet Decision CD 49/2021 — 2021 replacement of the tax penalty tables — Amends it In force
      2. 9 October 2025 Cabinet Decision CD 129/2025 — New tax penalty amounts from 14 April 2026 — Amends Art. 1 In force
    3. 10 July 2023 Cabinet Decision CD 74/2023 — Tax Procedures Executive Regulation — Executive Regulation of this law In force — amended
      1. 16 August 2023 FTA Decision FTA Decision 14/2023 — Extra conditions for a firm to register as a tax agent — Made under Art. 12(2)(d) In force
      2. 13 December 2023 FTA Decision FTA Decision 15/2023 — Annual CPD hours for individual tax agents — Made under it In force
      3. 15 January 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 1/2024 — Professional standards and black points for tax agents — Made under it In force
      4. 23 March 2026 Cabinet Decision CD 17/2026 — Amendments to the Tax Procedures Executive Regulation — Amends Arts. 3, 10, 18, 26, 28 In force
      5. 2 June 2026 FTA Decision FTA Decision 4/2026 — Keeping records as electronic copies or photocopies — Made under Art. 4(2) In force
    4. 19 July 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 5/2024 — When private clarification fees are refunded — Made under it In force
    5. 1 November 2024 FTA Decision FTA Decision 8/2024 — Correcting VAT return errors that do not change the tax due — Made under it In force (see VAT)
    6. 17 February 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 1/2025 — Extending deadlines for review and reconsideration requests — Made under it In force
    7. 13 March 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 64/2025 — Earlier e-invoicing service-provider accreditation (repealed) — Made under it Superseded (see E-Invoicing)
    8. 12 September 2025 Ministerial Decision MD 243/2025 — E-invoicing system — Made under e-invoicing provisions In force — amended (see E-Invoicing)
    9. 9 October 2025 Cabinet Decision CD 106/2025 — E-invoicing violations and penalties — Made under it In force (see E-Invoicing)
    10. 4 December 2025 FTA Decision FTA Decision 9/2025 — Declining refunds of residual amounts during a tax audit — Made under it In force
    11. 11 June 2026 FTA Decision FTA Decision 7/2026 — Disposal of seized and abandoned goods — Made under it In force

Official sources

Official Arabic text (opens in a new tab) English translation (unofficial) (opens in a new tab)

Related services: VAT Health Check · Corporate Tax

Last verified against official sources: 26 October 2026 · اقرأ بالعربية

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General information, not tax advice. Each record is checked against the official source; where they differ, the official Arabic text prevails.